March 18, 2019

Gospel: Luke 6:36-38 -Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Don’t be a judge of others and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back.”

Reflection:“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.“We are all familiar with the economy of the marketplace: goods and services have their price, determined by the law of “supply and demand.” But Jesus describes a different kind of economy, a marketplace of spiritual goods, which follows its own rules. If you want to receive mercy, then practice mercy. If you wish to be forgiven, practice forgiveness. The measure you give will be the measure you receive. Of course we know that this doesn’t always work out so neatly in practice. An act of trust may be repaid with betrayal. I may forgive someone, only to be cheated or robbed. I may refrain from judging another, only to be judged harshly or unfairly in return. The economy that Jesus describes presumes that we occupy a wider spiritual realm. Jesus taught that his fol- lowers would be persecuted for his sake—regardless of whether they were merciful or forgiving of others. The rewards for mercy and forgiveness may not be visible immediately or in this life. But we can make a start now, in this life, to live by God’s values, already living in hope of the Kingdom we wish to enter.